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ATN creating new company to run former Alltel properties

Atlantic-Tele Network, which agreed to pay Verizon Wireless $200 million to acquire some of the assets Verizon was required to divest as part of its acquisition of Alltel, has formed a new company to run the properties, and intends to hire more than 200 new workers.

ATN said the new subsidiary, Allied Wireless, would be headquartered in Little Rock, Ark. (where Alltel's headquarters were located), and would look to hire former Alltel workers who had been laid off after the acquisition. ATN's purchase of the assets from Verizon is still subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

The deal with Verizon includes wireless spectrum licenses and network assets, and covers over 800,000 subscribers primarily in rural areas across Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina. ATN said Allied Wireless will initially employ around 500 people in those states.

In late September, Salem, Mass.-based ATN picked Frank O'Mara, formerly Alltel's executive vice president of sales and marketing, to run the subsidiary.